Improvement in apparatus for sponging cloth



artnr FFICE@ LOUIS ROTHSCHILD, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR SPONGING GLGTH.

Specification .forming part of Letters Patent No. llfo, dated April 19, 136i.

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, LoUIs RorHscHrLD,of the city and countyot'N ew Haven in the State ot' Connecticut, have invented a new and use ful Improvement in Apparatus for Sponging and Shrinking all Kinds of Cloth Used by Tailors 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction, character, and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which make part of this specification, in which- Figure l is aperspective view of the Whole apparatus. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the boiler when the cylinder is removed. Fig. 3 is a perspective view ot' the cylinder when mounted 1n bearings for rolling on or taking off the cloth. 4

My improvement consists in the use ofva' perforated cylinder, made of sheet-metal and covered with woolen cloth, onto which I roll or Wind the cloth to be sponged or shrunk in a close roll and cover it with cotton flannel and canvas, or either of them, to keep the air from the cloth being sponged 'or shrunk, and then mount it vertically on a suitable boiler, so that when steam is generated in the boiler it will pass into the central part of the cylinder, whence it will escape through the perforations in its surface and saturate and sponge or shrinkwthe cloth, leaving its luster unimla'red.

I make the boiler of sheet metal, or any other suitable material, in the ordinary form of boilers to be used on a stove or furnace, and such as would be suitable for furnishing hot water for ordinary purposes in a tailors shop, where the hot water can be drawn out by a faucet, substantially as shown at B,I Figs. l and 2, except that I lit on a conical-shaped top,p,

with an orifice or aperture., n, to admit the steam into the central part of the cylinder, and a circular. vertical flange, c, onto or into which the lower end ot' the cylinder A is to be titted steam tight, all as shown in Fig. 2. I till this boiler with water and set it on the stove or furnace, as for Common use, to furnish 'hot water.

I make the cylinder A, Figs. l and 3, of

sheet copper, Zinc, or any other suitable Inaterial, about thirty-two inches in length and from six to eight inches in diameter, (so as to be suitable and convenient for rollin g or winding on a piece ot' broadcloth,) and I perforatc its surface, as shown at an, Snc., Fig. l. These perforations should not extend entirely to the ends of the cylinder, but about in the proportions shown in Fig. 1, and they should occupy about one third of the whole convex surface. I make the upper end entirely closed, and I fit a suitablejournal to it, as shown at Z), Figs. 1 and` 3, and I make the lower end open, so as to be readily fltted steam-tight onto or into the vertical fla-nge c, Fig. 2, as indicated in Fig. so that the cylinder will stand vertical; and a cap may be screwed onto this lower end, as indicated at a', Fig. 3, (and the female thread shown at e, Fig. 1,) which cap is tted with a journal, as shown at g, Fig. 3, or thejonrnal and cap may beiitted byanyotherconvenientmean s. At each end of this cylinder should be iitted a flange, as h and la, Figs. l and 3, to project equal to the thickness of the cloth on the cylinder, but this is not essential. I cover this cylinder woolen cloth, to equal thickness, sc that the of cloth which is beingsponged or shrunk. `To wind on the cloth, I place this cylinder horizontally with its journal b and g resting in suitable bearings, as l l, and place a crank, as

ready to wind the piece ot' cloth onto the cylinder, all as shown in Fig. 3. I lay the piece of cloth to be sponged or shrunk, as C, on a J table' or bench, and attach one end of the piece l. to the cloth covering of the cylinder by sewing or otherwise; and by the use of the crank m I wind the whole piece upon the cylinder and secure the end by sewing or otherwise, using ,l the hands, friction-rollers, or any other suitable l means to guide and give the necessary teni sion to the cloth to cause it to be wound or rolled true and tolerably close. I then cover the roll with cotton-flannel and that with canvas, though either of them alone may answer. I then remove the cap L from the lower end i ofthe cylinder and place the cylinder vertil cally on the boiler B, as shown in Fig. 1, havl ing previously set the lled boiler in its place i on the stove or furnace.

When steam is generated in the boiler B, it will pass up through the aperture a in the cone p, into the central part of the cylinder A, when it will ill the whole cylinder and be forced through the perforations into the cloth,

for its whole length with pilot-cloth, or other steain shall never strike directly on the piece m, on the end of the journal I), when all is which will condense the steam and absorb the water until the whole roll of cloth is saturated, so as to be what is technically called sponged77 or shrunk. N/Vhen this is completed, it will be indicated by the water showing itself like perspiration on the outer covering1 or canvas, when the cylinder should be taken from the boiler and placed with its journals in their bearing, as in Fig. 3, when the cloth may be unrolled by hand and laid in t'olds on the table, all as shown in Fig. 3.

The cylinder A may be attached to the boiler B by any other convenient means-as by passing the steam through the hollow journal g, extended into the cylinder, so as to deliver lit in the central part, but always observingY to place the cylinder vertical, so as to equalize the effectofthe steam, &c.

Any quantity or kind ot' cloth may be sponged or shrutk at one time, from a single pattern to a whole piece, or more; and a coat pattern, with its bnckram, canvas, padding, &c., and a pattern fu pantaloons and vest, &c., may all be sponged or shrunk at the same time, being rolled on together.

The advantages of my improvement consist in the triling' expense, as every tailor needs a stove (r furnace to heat his irons and a boiler to furnish him with hot water, so that the cylinder is, substantially, the only addition, and in that the sponging or shrinking,

even of a few yards, is eiieoted in less time and with less labor than it could be done by hand, and in that by this method of sponging the whole ot' the luster of the best finished cloth is preserved.

I am aware that high steam has been used in perforated cylinders, when placed horizontal and kept constantly revolving, for the purpose of producing a gloss or luster while nishing the cloth; but I do not claim this, as my invention consists ofthe cheap and simple apparatus which every tailor may have in hisv 

